Collapsible display and lecture stand



May 12, 1953 J, DE JEN 2,638,300

I COLLAPSIBLE DISPLAY AND LECTURE STAND I Filed Dec. 26, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 y 1953 J. DE JEN 4 2,638,300

' COLLAPSIBLE DISPLAY AND LECTURE STAND Filed Dec. 26, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR aged/n c' f 4 I ATTORNEY Patented May 12, 1953 COLLAPSIBLE DISPLAY AND LECTURE STAND Jean De Jen, Fairfield, Conn. Application December 26, 1947, Serial No. 793,959

3 Claims.

This invention relates to display and lecture stands particularly of the easel type and preferably having structural features which enable the easel legs to support the work backing frame or board of the stand at greater height above the floor than' above a table.

' In easel construction as heretofore proposed the easel legs themselves have commonly served as the sole means of backing flexible work sheets in upstanding position. When such work sheets are to be written on, as during a chalk talk or educational lecture, they require the additional use of a still flat board to provide all-over backing support for the full area of the sheet. When the easel is to be carted frequently to different places such backing boards must be carried about as a bulky article separate from the easel itself.

A purpose of the present improvements is to unify into a composite structure a stiff flat board of substantial broadside area for backing large work sheets, with legs adapted to support such board upright in easel fashion. Particularly the invention aims to provide legs which shall be attached permanently to the board and yet may be folded into a compassno larger than the area of the board and fiat against the board in a manner to avoid objectionable increase of the thickness of the board when conditioned for storage or for being carried about.

Other purposes of the invention are to make the combined board and legs extremely light in weight as well as adapted to be instantly converti ble from a condition for use to a condition for transportation or storage. Another aim is to attain increased sturdiness in the combined structure as compared with ordinary easels bothwhen. my improved easel board is standing on its legs and when collapsed into carrying condition;

Another object is to provide in my unified board and easel structure hinge joints for the legs .so. constructed and arranged that the legs are dependably rigid when extended tostand on .the floor yet leave available for use when folded into collapsed condition an abbreviated sort of .foot structur by means of which the board may besupported in easel fashion upon a table top with its bottom edge only slightly elevated thereabove.

} Other objects of the improvements are toprovide means which will act automatically and dependably to retain one or more of the legs releas ably in fixed relation to the board ineither their extended or folded conditions while making un' necessary any attention .to separate fastening means. It is also desirable to provide optionally usable shelf rests at difierent height levels on-the drawing board, a display stand for large placards;

or a dark room projection screen. For the latter purpose, as well as for extreme lightness ofweight, these improvements contemplate constructing the board member of flat thin metal such as sheet aluminum suitably surface finished to possess the desirable good light reflecting qualities of a projection screen.

These and other features of the improvements will appear in greater detail from the following description of a successful embodiment of the invention wherein reference is made to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective rear view of my improved easel board with legs extended and upstanding on a floor.

Fig. 2 is a front perspective view of the same easel board showing the use of collapsible shelf rests for supporting the lower edge of a large upstanding placard or display sheet.

Fig. 3 is a front perspective view of the easel board with two of its legs fully folded and its third leg section folded up but slanting outward from. the board to afford bracing support upon a table.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the rear of the board with all of the legs folded flat thereagainst.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view on an enlarged scale showing one of the hinge joints partially cut away to expose more clearly the construction of its several parts.

Fig. 6 is a correspondingly enlarged perspective view of two of the shelf rests shown respectively in collapsed and extended positions.

Fig. '7 is a cross sectional view taken through the center of the pivot pin of a hinge joint looking lengthwise of the leg in the direction of arrow A in Fig. 5 when the leg is folded into its fully collapsed position shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged view looking toward the end of a folded leg in the direction of arrow B in Fig. 4.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged view taken in section crosswise through the retaining clamp for the intermediate leg in Fig. 4.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the top hinge joint which pivotally connects the intermediate leg to the easel board in Fig. 1.v

Fig. 11 is an enlarged perspective view looking in the direction of arrow C in Fig. 1 showing the" joint it is stiff and-unitary throughout its length from the floor on which it stands to its top hinge bracket 20. In order to limitthe degree to which bracing leg I4 can be swun backward away from board Ill, bracing links '39 are pivoted respectively to the sidewalls of hollow'cleats l2 and have their opposite ends in both pivotal and sliding engagement with elongated slots 40 in the side walls of the upper section of leg M. The combined sliding and pivotal connection is afforded by studs 4| which are pivotally and slidably retained in slots 40 by any suitable means such as the thrust washer shown at 142 in Fig. 11. v Each oflegs l3 and I l is equipped at its bottom end with an insert 43 of rubber, fiberor other non-scratching material to .provida-friction grip upon the floor, and at-leastone free end of each hinge bracket carries a rubber disc 41 whose periphery serves as a foot pad on which the structure may rest on a table top as indicated in Fig. 3.

The bracing leg M together with its fioor leg section [4, when folded fiat against board III as shown in Fig. 4, are retained by spring clamps 48 as shown in Fig. 9. Legs [3 may be retained in their collapsed position shown in Fig. 4 by swingable wire loops 44 which are pivotally hooked in the side walls of cleats l2 as shown in Fig. 8.

For supporting large placards 49 or flat display charts in a position to lean against the board Ill, each of legs I3 is equipped with a series of collapsible shelf rests 50 having forked ends 5| pivotally connected to the side walls of the leg by loose rivets 52 and having spring ears 53 which wipe into frictional clinging engagement with the side walls of the leg to retain the rest fiat against the leg. When the shelf rest 50 is swung downward into projecting position for use, its wall edge 54 abuts against the front surface of the leg as shown in Fig. 6 and thereby limits the downward swing of the bracket to the projecting position shown. It will be noticed that the spring ears 53 serve an additional purpose in guarding the placard 49 against accidentally slipping forward off from the free end of the rest.

Figs. 1, 2 and 3 further show small bolts 58 penetrating board In and receiving thumb nuts 59 at the rear face of the boar-d as an expedient for holding sheets of paper such as 60 against the board to be marked on by a lecturer in connection with his talk. Y

In its condition shown in Fig. 4 the collapsed stand is adapted to be carried about as a unit and can be set up very quickly and conveniently into condition for use as shown in Fig. 2 or Fig. 3, and with equal facility restored to its condition for cartage or storage shown in Fig. 4.

For use as a projection screen while standing on the floor, the easel will be conditioned as shown in Fig. l, and when standing on a table will be conditioned for use as shown in Fig. 3. For use as a stand for displaying large placards such as 49, shelf rests 53 will be brought into use at chosen heights as shown in Fig. 2. There might be substituted for placard 49 a reflective plate to serve as a reflective screen on which pictures larger than the board I0 might be thrown. Fig. 2 also shows a pad of drawing paper removably fastened to the board by bolts and thumb nuts 59 so that the top sheet can be torn off as from a calendar leaving a fresh blank sheet with adequate backing support to be 6. markedoni Such pad could likewise be carried by the'table supported board of Fig. 3. I

Within the underlying principles of construction to which the appended claims are directed wide departures may be made from the particular shapes and arrangements of parts herein chosen to illustrate the present improvements and therefore the claims will be understood as intended to cover all variations of examples given which fairly would be embraced by the most inclusive meaning of the claim language.

I claim:

1. A collapsible display stand comprising in combination, a rigid work board having a rear broadside surface by which to be supported and an opposite front broadside display face to be maintained fully bare and accessible in both collapsed and erected conditions of the stand, a hip leg rigidfrom end to end overlapping said rear surface of the board having one of its ends hinged to the latter and having its other end free for swinging movement toward and away from the board, three floor legs, three hinge structures each incorporating a single hinge pin, two of said pins respectively coupling two of said floor legs to said rigid board and the other of said pins coupling the other of said floor legs to said free end of the rigid hip leg, and each of said hinge pins confining the fioor leg coupled thereby to swinging movement about a single pivotal axis displaced rearwardly from said front display face of the board, and three pairs of mutually abutting stops, one stop of each pair being fixed on one of said floor legs, the other stop of two of said pairs being fixed on said rigid board, and the other stop of the third of said pairs being fixed on said rigid hip leg, said stops in each of said pairs mutually engaging in a manner to per.- mit and restrict swinging movement of all of said floor legs from overlapping relation to said rear surface of said board to positions extending away from said work board, at least one of said hinge structures including a rigid channel member stationed fixedly on said rear surface of said board and a cooperative rigid channel member stationed fixedly on one of said fioor legs, said channel members having mutually overlapping side walls penetrated by said hinge pin, and said stops comprising mutually abutting edges of said channel members, whereby said legs are precluded from swinging into overlapping relation to said front face of the board.

2. A collapsible display stand as defined in claim 1, in which one of the said side walls of one of the said channel members carries a rounded detentive boss projecting toward an overlapping side wall of the other of said channel members, and said overlapping side wall contains a pocket positioned to register with and receive said boss with releasable cling when the said edges of said channel members mutually abut.

.3. A collapsible display stand comprising in combination, a rigid work board having a rear broadside surface by which to be supported and an opposite front broadside display face to be maintained fully bare and accessible in both collapsed and erected conditions of the stand, a hip leg rigid from end to end overlapping said rear surface of the board having one of its ends hinged to the latter and having its other end free for swinging movement toward and away from the board, three floor legs, three hinge structures each incorporating a single hinge pin, two of said pins respectively coupling two of said floor legs to said rigid board and the other of said pins. coupling the. other at said. floor 1m. to said free end of the: rigid leg, and: each of saidihinge confining the floor-leg. coupled thereby to swinging movement about a single pivotal axis displaced rearwardly .firomsaid front display face of theboard, and three; pairs; of mutually abutting stops, one stop of eachipair be.- ing fixed on one of said floor legs, the other ston of two of said pairs being fixed on said rigid board, and the other stop of the third of said pairs being fixed on said rigidhip leg, said stops in each of said pairs mutually engaging a manner to permit and restrict. swinging movement of all of said floor legs from overlapping, relation to said rear surface of said board to positions extending away from said work board, whereby said legs are precluded vfrom. swinging, into overlapping relation to said front .facer of the board, together with a channel-shaped shelf 81' resthaxing; a test surnamev whose overall width is. by channel forming flanges pivotally mounted atone end on each of two of said floor legs so that said rest surface and flanges swing between a.- position saddli-ng the leg and a position projecting; forward from the leg on which the shelf rest is mounted.

JEAN DE JEN.

References Cited in the. file of this patent UNITED: STATES PATENTS Date 

